Last shift for Marzena Nwosu, who joined Archive & Schools half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
A birth in Ring C: Deepika, girl, generation 8. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Caelum Aaberg does not wake on the night watch. 78 years, most of them given to Drive.
Census check: 839 souls, 241 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Wren Aaberg, 89. It is little enough.
“Door for the Sunless Thread,” a tale-cycle by Rell Quill, is unveiled at brightening to the particular applause of Life Systems.
The star ahead brightens by amounts only I can love: another week, another hundred-millionth of a magnitude.
A first shift for Radhika Petrov, sixteen: plasma systems tech, Drive. The badge is printed fresh.
The Crossing feast: more behind than ahead. The long tables come out; the good preserves come down.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 8,592th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Sixteen years for Nneka Valdivia, who signs to Fabrication on the first watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
3.49 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 24,130 thousand to go.
Sojourn Quill chooses Ecology — or it chooses her; the elders disagree cheerfully.
Beatriz Sharma has made a mural called “What the Watch Remembers.” Asked what it means, she says it means about nine years of evenings.
A first shift for Lyra Petrov, sixteen: sanitation engineer, Life Systems. The badge is printed fresh.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 171, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
A son, Arc Quill, born in the Ring D infirmary to Rell Quill and Yejide Kowalczyk. Mother and child are well.
3.50 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 24,136 thousand to go.
Aleksandr Navarrete stands down from Hydroponics at sixty-eight, to the orchard benches and the long game of stones.
Nadia Thorvaldsen died in quarters on the night watch, 90 years old. 839 souls aboard.
First Light festival. The children are lifted to the eyepiece one by one to see where they are going.
Last shift for Sojourn Nwosu, who joined Medical half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.
Frederick Tväten, 68, generation 4, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
Nora Fang and Ulyana Fang are joined under the orchard lamps. The whole of Hydroponics turns out.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 8,479th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
The hull ticks as it cools into the long night. Year 171, and I still log it faithfully: ticking, nominal.
Pearl Sharma finishes a instrument: “Seven Skys Rising.” It shows in the commons through the week.
3.51 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 24,264 thousand to go.
The youngest aboard is now Gayatri Shen, minutes old, asleep. 841 souls.
Huda Thorvaldsen and Kestrel Nwosu name their son Torsten. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Ada Shen and Chengdong Jaber name their daughter Xiaohui. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 28,879 days to orbit.
Node Aaberg finishes a play: “Five Harvests Waiting.” It shows in the commons through the week.
The manifest shortens by one: Jamal Merriweather, 82 years. 4 children carry the line on.
Omar Aaberg and Carmen Fang, joined. Their quarters are re-assigned adjoining, per custom.
Year 171 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
The schools release Gayatri Sharma to Hydroponics. Generation 6 takes up its tools.
A child in Ring B asks the corridor speaker what Earth smelled like. I play the rainstorm recording. It is the best answer I have.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
Lumen Diallo is delivered of a daughter at dimming. The child is called Tessa.
All boards green. I count 838 sleeping heartbeats and call it a good night's work, though the work is theirs.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 28,919 days to orbit.
Two names braided on the manifest tonight: Orrery and Qing. The commons sings late.
Alejandro Peng stands the walk of the full spinal corridor, as the sixteen-year custom is, and joins Hydroponics.
Chengdong Merriweather takes the hand of Amina Thorvaldsen before the assembled watch. I witness, as I witness everything.
Tara Quill is delivered of a daughter on the first watch. The child is called Ghada.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 28,931 days to orbit.
Sixty-eight years: Gyre Diallo hangs up the sash. An elder's quarters in Ring A stands ready.
Census check: 837 souls, 241 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Last shift for Yash Pillai, who joined Hydroponics half a century ago. The crew line the corridor and knock wrenches on the rails.